Method of manufacturing vehicular camera with flexible connector

ABSTRACT

A method of assembling a vehicular camera includes providing front and rear housings and providing at least one first electrical connector at a circuit board of the front housing and providing at least one second electrical connector at the rear housing. One of the first and second electrical connectors includes a male connector and the other of the first and second electrical connectors includes a female connector. The rear housing is mated with the front housing to encase an imaging element and the circuit board. When mating the rear housing with the front housing, the male connector is inserted into the female connector to electrically conductively connect the first and second electrical connectors. When inserting the male connector into the respective female connector, the female connector flexes to accommodate misalignment of the male and female connectors.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/871,174, filed Jan. 15, 2018, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,399,510,which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/992,254,filed Jan. 11, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,868,404, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/001,272, filed Aug.23, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,233,641, which is a 371 national phasefiling of PCT Application No. PCT/US2012/026073, filed Feb. 22, 2012,which claims the filing benefit of U.S. provisional applications, Ser.No. 61/593,962, filed Feb. 2, 2012, and Ser. No. 61/446,975, filed Feb.25, 2011, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to cameras for use in vehicles, and moreparticularly to rearview cameras.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A typical camera for mounting on a vehicle has a lens member, an imagingelement, a circuit board and housing members that connect together. Inparticular, for certain applications, such as for some applicationswherein the camera is rearwardly facing and is mounted in a rear panelon a vehicle, there can be relatively severe space restrictions for thecamera. However, other vehicular camera applications also impose spacerestrictions on the camera. Additionally, some cameras are relativelycomplex assemblies that are expensive, and can suffer from reliabilityproblems due to the number of components and the number of individualelectrical connections that are associated therewith. In particular,some cameras have a front housing which holds a circuit board and a rearhousing which mounts in a tight alignment with the front housing memberand which houses electrical connectors (i.e. pins). At the distal end ofthe rear housing member are the terminals of the pins, which connect viaa cable assembly to another component in the vehicle. At the front endof the rear housing member, a jumper is typically used to connect thefront ends of the pins to the circuit board. This solution is usedbecause it accommodates variation in the positions of the pins in therear housing member and in the positions of the points on the circuitboard intended to connect to the pins.

It would be advantageous to provide a camera that addresses one or moreof these considerations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a camera for mounting at a vehicle thatincludes aligned front and rear portions of a housing and providesdirect electrical connection of electrical connectors or terminals atthe front and rear portions of the housing.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a camera formounting on a vehicle includes a front housing member that holds a lensmember, an imaging element and a circuit board with a set of frontelectrical connectors thereon, and a rear housing member that holds aset of rear electrical connectors that are directly mounted to the frontelectrical connectors (i.e. without the use of a jumper). The rearhousing member is aligned to the front housing member with respect to afirst axis. The front and rear electrical connectors are able toaccommodate misalignment along two axes which are orthogonal to the eachother and to the first axis.

By directly mounting the front and rear electrical connectors, a jumperwire is not needed, thereby reducing cost and eliminating potentialsources of circuit failures that are associated with the use of jumperwires. By aligning the front and rear housing members, the overall spaceoccupied by the camera is smaller, which is advantageous particularlywhen the camera is to be used in tight spaces.

In one embodiment, the camera includes a front camera housing member, alens member mounted to the front housing member, an imager that ispositioned to receive images through the lens member, a circuit boardmounted to the front housing member, and a rear camera housing member.The circuit board comprises circuitry that is configured or operable toreceive signals from the imager and to send signals to anothercomponent. The circuit board has a plurality of front electricalconnectors thereon. The rear camera housing member has a rear housingalignment structure that mates with a front housing alignment structureto align the rear camera housing member with respect to the front camerahousing member along a first axis. The rear camera housing member has aplurality of rear electrical connectors extending therefrom. The rearelectrical connectors are electrically connected to the front electricalconnector. One set of the sets of front and rear electrical connectorsis a set of male electrical connectors and the other set of the sets offront and rear electrical connectors is a set of female electricalconnectors. Each female electrical connector has a jaw structureincluding first and second jaws. The first and second jaws togetherdefine a second axis along which the first and second jaws clamp one ofthe male electrical connectors. The second axis is generallyperpendicular to the first axis. The first and second jaws have a widththat is sized so that the male electrical connector is positionabletherebetween over a range of positions along the second axis. The femaleelectrical connector has a jaw structure biasing member that biases thejaw structure towards a home position but permits movement of the jawstructure along a third axis that is generally perpendicular to thefirst and second axes.

These and other objects, advantages, purposes and features of thepresent invention will become apparent upon review of the followingspecification in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be described by way of example only withreference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a camera in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a portion of the camera shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a magnified perspective view of a female electrical connectorassembly from the camera shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a magnified perspective side view of a female electricalconnector from the female electrical connector assembly shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a magnified sectional end view of the female electricalconnector assembly shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a magnified sectional perspective view of the femaleelectrical connector assembly shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of the female electrical connector assemblyshown in FIG. 3; and

FIGS. 8a and 8b are perspective views illustrating stages of assembly ofthe female electrical connector assembly shown in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference is made to FIG. 1, which shows a camera 10 for use in avehicle (not shown), and in particular for use as a rearview camera in avehicle. The camera 10 includes an optical element or lens assembly orlens member 12, a circuit board 14, an imager 15, a front housing member16 and a rear housing member 18 (shown in FIG. 1 as being transparent).The lens member 12 may be any suitable lens member known in the art, andis mounted to the front housing member 16. In some instances the lensmember 12 may a separate element from the front housing member 16, or itmay be integral with the front housing member 16.

Note that the terms ‘front’ and ‘rear’ as used in the present documentrefer to the front of the camera 10 (i.e., the portion of the camerawhere the lens member is located), and the rear of the camera 10 (i.e.,the portion of the camera 10 opposite the front of the camera 10). Whenthe camera 10 is used in a rearview application in a vehicle (such aswhen the camera is mounted at a rear portion of a vehicle and has arearward field of view rearward of the vehicle), the front of the camera10 thus faces rearwardly relative to the vehicle and the rear of thecamera 10 faces towards the front of the vehicle.

The lens member 12 is positioned in a selected position to receiveimages and focus them on the imager 15. The imager 15 may be anysuitable imaging element, such as an imaging array of photosensors orsuch as a charge-coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxidesemiconductor (CMOS) sensor, such as discussed below. The circuit board14 receives signals from the imager 15 and sends signals to one or moreother components of the vehicle, such as a control device (not shown)within the vehicle. The imaging element 15 may be mounted directly ontothe circuit board 14. The circuit board 14 is mounted to the fronthousing member 16.

Referring to FIG. 2, the rear housing member 18 mounts to the fronthousing member 16 in a fixed position by virtue of an alignmentstructure 22, which aligns the rear housing member 18 in a specificposition relative to the front housing member 16. The alignmentstructure 22 may be made up of any suitable rear housing alignmentstructure and any suitable front housing alignment structure which matetogether to align the rear housing portion 18 with respect to the fronthousing member 16 along a first axis 27. For example, the alignmentstructure 22 may include a peripheral edge portion 24 on the rearhousing member 18 that mates with a press fit onto a peripheral shoulder26 on the front housing member 16. In an alternative embodiment, thealignment structure 22 may include a plurality of threaded fasteners(not shown), which pass through fastener apertures (not shown) on one ofthe housing members 16 or 18 and into threaded apertures (not shown) inthe other of the housing members 16 or 18. An adhesive or some othermeans of joining or permanently joining the front and rear housingmembers 16 and 18 together may also be provided. For example, thehousing members 16 and 18 may be welded together or otherwise bonded orjoined.

The front and rear housing members 16 and 18 may be made from anysuitable material, such as a polymeric material, such as a materialcalled XENOY™ from Sabic Americas, Inc. in Houston, Tex., USA.Alternatively to XENOY™, any other type of PBT (PolybutyleneTerephthalate) or PBT/PC (a blend of Polybutylene Terephthalate andPolycarbonate) or other suitable material may be used. In instanceswherein the front and rear housing members 16 and 18 may build up astatic electrical charge, it is preferable to provide means to inhibitsuch a buildup so as to protect components such as the circuit board 14.

A set of front electrical connectors 20 are connected to the circuitboard 14, which are female electrical connectors. The rear housingmember 18 has a set of rear electrical connectors 28 therein which, inthe illustrated embodiment, are male electrical connectors. The rearelectrical connectors 28 may be incorporated into the rear housingmember 18 by any suitable means, such as by insert molding. The maleelectrical connectors 28 have first terminals 29 that mate with thefemale electrical connectors 20 on the circuit board 14, and secondterminals 32, which are contained in a vehicle connection portion 30 ofthe rear housing member 18. The vehicle connection portion 30 isconfigured to connect to or receive a vehicle connector (such as aconnector of a vehicle wiring harness or the like), which connects thecircuit board 14 to some other component in the vehicle such as acontrol unit (not shown). The vehicle connection portion 30 need not beas shown. For example, the vehicle connection portion 30 may insteadinclude a wire harness connected to the male electrical connectors 28,and a housing with pins therein connected to a distal end of the wireharness.

Reference is made to FIG. 3, which shows a female electrical connectorassembly 33, which the female electrical connectors are a part of. Thefemale electrical connector assembly 33 includes a plurality of thefemale electrical connectors 20 and a connector housing 34. Referring toFIG. 4, each female electrical connector 20 has a jaw structure 35including first and second jaws 36 and 38. The first and second jaws 36and 38 are biased towards each other so that they clamp the maleelectrical connector 28 therebetween. The first and second jaws 36 and38 together define a clamping line 42 may be referred to as a secondaxis along which they clamp the male electrical connector 28. The jaws36 and 38 have a width Wj that is larger than the width (shown at Wm inFIG. 4) of the male electrical connector 28 so that the male electricalconnector 28 is positionable between the jaws 36 and 38 over a range ofpositions along the second axis 42. The jaws 36 and 38 are biasedtowards each other by jaw biasing members 44 and 46, which may be anysuitable biasing members such as leaf springs. The jaw structure 35 isbiased towards a home position by a jaw structure biasing member 48, towhich the jaw structure 35 is connected. The jaw structure biasingmember 48 may be any suitable biasing member such as a leaf spring andpermits movement of the jaw structure 35 along a third axis 50 (see FIG.5) that is generally perpendicular to the first and second axes 27 and42. As a result, the male electrical connector 28 can be received in thejaws 36 and 38 of the female electrical connector 20 over a range ofpositions along the third axis 50.

The female electrical connector 20 further includes a contact 52 that ispositioned for connecting to the circuit board 14. The contact 52 has asuitable surface area over which to connect to an electrical trace onthe circuit board 14. The female electrical connector 20 furtherincludes a clamp portion 54, which is sized to clamp onto a base member56 (FIGS. 6 and 7) that forms part of the connector housing 34. Thecontact 52 forms part of the clamp portion 54.

The female electrical connector 20 is preferably formed from a singlepiece of material that is cut and bent as necessary. The connector 20may be made from any suitable material, such as a copper alloy or thelike. An example material is tin-plated C15219 phosphor bronze, butother materials may be used.

Referring to FIG. 7, the base member 56 includes a plurality of clampreceiving portions 58 which are sized to snugly receive the clampportions 54 of the female electrical connectors 20, thereby forming apre-assembly 60 (FIG. 8b ) that is self-supporting and that can behandled as a single item so as to facilitate assembly of the camera 10.As shown in FIG. 8a , the base member 56 may be configured such thatsuccessive female electrical connectors 20 alternately connect to thebase member 56 from one side shown at 62 and then from the other sideshown at 64, which facilitates placement of the female electricalconnectors 20 onto the base member 56.

The connector housing 34 further includes an upper member 66, whichcooperates with the base member 56 to form chambers 68, each of whichhouses one of the female electrical connectors 20 (shown in FIGS. 7 and3). The chambers 68 are defined by chamber walls 70, which include foreand aft walls 70 a, divider walls 70 b and end walls 70 c. Referring toFIG. 5, one of the chambers 68 is shown. As shown, the fore and aftwalls 70 a serve to limit the movement of the jaw structure 35 along thethird axis 50.

The upper member 66 cooperates with the base member 56 to form thedivider walls 70 b. More particularly, the divider walls 70 b have lowerportions 72 which are portions of the base member 56 and upper portions74 which are portions of the upper member 66.

During entry of the male electrical connector 28 into the femaleelectrical connector 20 the male electrical connector 28 will drive thejaw structure 35 of the female electrical connector 20 in a firstdirection shown by arrow 77 (i.e. downwards in FIG. 5). An entry limitmember 76 is provided on one of the chamber walls 70 (e.g., the lowerportion 72 of the divider wall 70 b), which is engaged by an entry limitshoulder 78 on the female electrical connector 20 to limit the amount ofdownward movement that the jaw structure 35 will incur during entry ofthe male electrical connector 28.

During withdrawal of the male electrical connector 28 from the femaleelectrical connector 20, the male electrical connector 28 will pull thejaw structure 35 of the female electrical connector 20 in a seconddirection 79 (i.e., upwards in FIG. 5) so as to withdraw it from thechamber 68. A withdrawal limit member 80 is provided on one of thechamber walls 70 (e.g., the upper portion 74 of the divider wall 70 b),which is engaged by a withdrawal limit shoulder 82 on the femaleelectrical connector 20 to limit the amount of upward movement that thejaw structure 35 will incur during withdrawal of the male electricalconnector 28.

The connector housing 34 may be made from any suitable material, such asan electrically insulative material so as to limit or prevent conductionof electrical signals between adjacent female electrical connectors 20.An example material is Nylon 9T, but other suitable materials may beused.

The upper member 66 may connect to the base member 56 fixedly, such asby way of a suitable adhesive. As an alternative to adhesive, amechanical means may be used, such as snap features, or interferenceribs that would provide a force fit. Alternatively, the upper member 66may connect to the circuit board 14 using some suitable means such as anadhesive and may engage the base member 56 without being connected tothe base member 56.

As a result of the configuration of the female electrical connectors 20,the male electrical connectors 28 and the female electrical connectors20 need not be precisely aligned with respect to either of the second orthird axes in order for them to mate together to form a strongelectrical connection without causing undue stresses on each other. As aresult, the rear housing member 18 can be aligned with the front housingmember 16 without damaging the connectors 20 and 28 and while providinga strong electrical connection therebetween. By aligning the front andrear housing members 16 and 18 together, greater control over theoverall dimensions of the camera 10 are provided, as compared to anassembly where the rear housing ‘floats’ relative to the front housingmember. As a result, the camera 10 can fit in a smaller space than asimilar camera 10 with a floating rear housing member, which isadvantageous in today's vehicles where there is a continuing need to fitsuch cameras in ever shrinking spaces. Further, the non-floating rearhousing member 18 may be used as a datum feature during installation ofthe camera to maintain tight tolerances relative to a camera with afloating rear housing member.

The camera 10 need not be mounted at the rear of a vehicle or as arearview camera at all. The camera may be mounted anywhere suitableabout the vehicle. For example, the camera could face the front or sideof the vehicle, or may, for example, face the rear of the vehicle whilebeing mounted on the side of the vehicle (e.g., such as for blind-spotmonitoring for the vehicle or the like).

In the illustrated embodiment, the front electrical connectors 20 arefemale electrical connectors and the rear electrical connectors 28 aremale electrical connectors. It is alternatively possible to provide themale electrical connectors on the circuit board 14 as the frontelectrical connectors and the female electrical connectors as the rearelectrical connectors.

The camera or imager or imaging sensor may comprise any suitable cameraor imager or sensor. Optionally, the camera may comprise a “smartcamera” that includes the imaging sensor array and associated circuitryand image processing circuitry and electrical connectors and the like aspart of a camera module, such as by utilizing aspects of the visionsystems described in U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/563,965,filed Nov. 28, 2011, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference inits entirety.

The vehicle may include any type of sensor or sensors, such as imagingsensors or radar sensors or lidar sensors or ultrasonic sensors or thelike. The imaging sensor or camera may capture image data for imageprocessing and may comprise any suitable camera or sensing device, suchas, for example, an array of a plurality of photosensor elementsarranged in 640 columns and 480 rows (a 640×480 imaging array), with arespective lens focusing images onto respective portions of the array.The photosensor array may comprise a plurality of photosensor elementsarranged in a photosensor array having rows and columns. The logic andcontrol circuit of the imaging sensor may function in any known manner,such as in the manner described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,877,897;6,498,620; 5,670,935; 5,796,094 and/or 6,396,397, and/or U.S.provisional applications, Ser. No. 61/600,205, filed Feb. 17, 2012; Ser.No. 61/588,833, filed Jan. 20, 2012; Ser. No. 61/583,381, filed Jan. 5,2012; Ser. No. 61/579,682, filed Dec. 23, 2011; Ser. No. 61/570,017,filed Dec. 13, 2011; Ser. No. 61/568,791, filed Dec. 9, 2011; Ser. No.61/567,446, filed Dec. 6, 2011; Ser. No. 61/567,150, filed Dec. 6, 2011;Ser. No. 61/565,713, filed Dec. 1, 2011; Ser. No. 61/559,970, filed Nov.15, 2011; Ser. No. 61/552,167, filed Oct. 27, 2011; Ser. No. 61/540,256,filed Sep. 28, 2011; Ser. No. 61/513,745, filed Aug. 1, 2011; Ser. No.61/511,738, filed Jul. 26, 2011; and/or Ser. No. 61/503,098, filed Jun.30, 2011, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. The system may communicate with other communication systemsvia any suitable means, such as by utilizing aspects of the systemsdescribed in PCT Application No. PCT/US10/038477, filed Jun. 14, 2010and published Dec. 16, 2010 as International Publication No. WO2010/144900, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/202,005, filedAug. 17, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,126,525, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

The camera or cameras may comprise any suitable cameras or imagingsensors or camera modules, and may utilize aspects of the cameras orsensors described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/091,359, filedApr. 24, 2008 and published Oct. 1, 2009 as U.S. Publication No.US-2009-0244361, and/or Ser. No. 13/260,400, filed Sep. 26, 2011, nowU.S. Pat. Nos. 8,542,451, and/or 7,965,336 and/or 7,480,149, which arehereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. The imagingarray sensor may comprise any suitable sensor, and may utilize variousimaging sensors or imaging array sensors or cameras or the like, such asa CMOS imaging array sensor, a CCD sensor or other sensors or the like,such as the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,670,935;5,760,962; 5,715,093; 5,877,897; 6,922,292; 6,757,109; 6,717,610;6,590,719; 6,201,642; 6,498,620; 5,796,094; 6,097,023; 6,320,176;6,559,435; 6,831,261; 6,806,452; 6,396,397; 6,822,563; 6,946,978;7,339,149; 7,038,577; 7,965,336; 7,004,606 and/or 7,720,580, and/or PCTApplication No. PCT/US2008/076022, filed Sep. 11, 2008 and publishedMar. 19, 2009 as International Publication No. WO/2009/036176, and/orPCT Application No. PCT/US2008/078700, filed Oct. 3, 2008 and publishedApr. 9, 2009 as International Publication No. WO/2009/046268, which areall hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Theimaging device and control and image processor and any associatedillumination source, if applicable, may comprise any suitablecomponents, and may utilize aspects of the cameras and vision systemsdescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,877,897; 6,498,620; 5,670,935;5,796,094; 6,396,397; 6,806,452; 6,690,268; 7,005,974; 7,123,168;7,004,606; 6,946,978; 7,038,577; 6,353,392; 6,320,176; 6,313,454 and6,824,281, and/or International Publication No. WO 2010/099416,published Sep. 2, 2010, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US10/47256, filedAug. 31, 2010 and published Mar. 10, 2011 as International PublicationNo. WO 2011/028686, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/508,840,filed Jul. 24, 2009, and published Jan. 28, 2010 as U.S. Pat.Publication No. US 2010-0020170; and/or U.S. provisional applications,Ser. No. 61/511,738, filed Jul. 26, 2011; and/or Ser. No. 61/503,098,filed Jun. 30, 2011, which are all hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

The camera module and circuit chip or board and imaging sensor may beimplemented and operated in connection with various vehicularvision-based systems, and/or may be operable utilizing the principles ofsuch other vehicular systems, such as a vehicle headlamp control system,such as the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,796,094; 6,097,023;6,320,176; 6,559,435; 6,831,261; 7,004,606; 7,339,149 and/or 7,526,103,which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties, a rain sensor, such as the types disclosed in commonlyassigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,353,392; 6,313,454; 6,320,176 and/or7,480,149, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties, a vehicle vision system, such as a forwardly, sidewardly orrearwardly directed vehicle vision system utilizing principles disclosedin U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,670,935; 5,760,962; 5,877,897; 5,949,331;6,222,447; 6,302,545; 6,396,397; 6,498,620; 6,523,964; 6,611,202;6,201,642; 6,690,268; 6,717,610; 6,757,109; 6,802,617; 6,806,452;6,822,563; 6,891,563; 6,946,978 and/or 7,859,565, which are all herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties, a trailer hitchingaid or tow check system, such as the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.7,005,974, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety, a reverse or sideward imaging system, such as for a lanechange assistance system or lane departure warning system or for a blindspot or object detection system, such as imaging or detection systems ofthe types disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,881,496; 7,720,580; 7,038,577;5,929,786 and/or 5,786,772, and/or U.S. provisional application Ser. No.60/618,686, filed Oct. 14, 2004, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties, a video device for internal cabinsurveillance and/or video telephone function, such as disclosed in U.S.Pat. Nos. 5,760,962; 5,877,897; 6,690,268 and/or 7,370,983, and/or U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005 andpublished Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0050018-A1, whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, atraffic sign recognition system, a system for determining a distance toa leading or trailing vehicle or object, such as a system utilizing theprinciples disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,396,397 and/or 7,123,168, whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, and/orthe like.

Optionally, the circuit board or chip may include circuitry for theimaging array sensor and or other electronic accessories or features,such as by utilizing compass-on-a-chip or EC driver-on-a-chip technologyand aspects such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,255,451 and/or7,480,149; and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/226,628, filedSep. 14, 2005 and published Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S. Publication No.US-2006-0061008, and/or Ser. No. 12/578,732, filed Oct. 14, 2009 andpublished Apr. 22, 2010 as U.S. Publication No. US-2010-0097469, whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Optionally, the vision system may include a display for displayingimages captured by one or more of the imaging sensors for viewing by thedriver of the vehicle while the driver is normally operating thevehicle. Optionally, for example, the vision system may include a videodisplay device disposed at or in the interior rearview mirror assemblyof the vehicle, such as by utilizing aspects of the video mirror displaysystems described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,690,268 and/or U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/333,337, filed Dec. 21, 2011 and published Jun.28, 2012 as U.S. Publication No. US-2012-0162427, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties. The video mirrordisplay may comprise any suitable devices and systems and optionally mayutilize aspects of the compass display systems described in U.S. Pat.Nos. 7,370,983; 7,329,013; 7,308,341; 7,289,037; 7,249,860; 7,004,593;4,546,551; 5,699,044; 4,953,305; 5,576,687; 5,632,092; 5,677,851;5,708,410; 5,737,226; 5,802,727; 5,878,370; 6,087,953; 6,173,508;6,222,460; 6,513,252 and/or 6,642,851, and/or European patentapplication, published Oct. 11, 2000 under Publication No. EP 0 1043566,and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/226,628, filed Sep. 14, 2005and published Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0061008,which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. Optionally, the video mirror display screen or device may beoperable to display images captured by a rearward viewing camera of thevehicle during a reversing maneuver of the vehicle (such as responsiveto the vehicle gear actuator being placed in a reverse gear position orthe like) to assist the driver in backing up the vehicle, and optionallymay be operable to display the compass heading or directional headingcharacter or icon when the vehicle is not undertaking a reversingmaneuver, such as when the vehicle is being driven in a forwarddirection along a road (such as by utilizing aspects of the displaysystem described in PCT Application No. PCT/US2011/056295, filed Oct.14, 2011 and published Apr. 19, 2012 as International Publication No. WO2012/051500, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety). Optionally, the vision system (utilizing the rearward facingcamera and other cameras disposed at the vehicle with exterior fields ofview) may the camera or cameras may be part of a vehicle vision systemand the vision system may comprise or utilize a plurality of cameras,and the vision system (utilizing a rearward facing camera and sidewardlyfacing cameras and a forwardly facing cameras disposed at the vehicle)may provide a display of a top-down view or birds-eye view of thevehicle or a surround view at the vehicle, such as by utilizing aspectsof the vision systems described in PCT Application No. PCT/US10/25545,filed Feb. 26, 2010 and published on Sep. 2, 2010 as InternationalPublication No. WO 2010/099416, and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US10/47256, filed Aug. 31, 2010 and published Mar. 10, 2011 asInternational Publication No. WO 2011/028686, and/or U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/333,337, filed Dec. 21, 2011 and published Jun.28, 2012 as U.S. Publication No. US-2012-0162427, and/or U.S.provisional applications, Ser. No. 61/570,017, filed Dec. 13, 2011; Ser.No. 61/559,970, filed Nov. 15, 2011; and/or Ser. No. 61/540,256, filedSep. 28, 2011, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties.

Optionally, the video mirror display may be disposed rearward of andbehind the reflective element assembly and may comprise a display suchas the types disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,855,755; 5,530,240;6,329,925; 7,855,755; 7,626,749; 7,581,859; 7,446,650; 7,370,983;7,338,177; 7,274,501; 7,255,451; 7,195,381; 7,184,190; 5,668,663;5,724,187 and/or 6,690,268, and/or in U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/226,628, filed Sep. 14, 2005 and published Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S.Publication No. US-2006-0061008; and/or Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun.13, 2005 and published Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No.US-2006-0050018, which are all hereby incorporated herein by referencein their entireties. The display is viewable through the reflectiveelement when the display is activated to display information. Thedisplay element may be any type of display element, such as a vacuumfluorescent (VF) display element, a light emitting diode (LED) displayelement, such as an organic light emitting diode (OLED) or an inorganiclight emitting diode, an electroluminescent (EL) display element, aliquid crystal display (LCD) element, a video screen display element orbacklit thin film transistor (TFT) display element or the like, and maybe operable to display various information (as discrete characters,icons or the like, or in a multi-pixel manner) to the driver of thevehicle, such as passenger side inflatable restraint (PSIR) information,tire pressure status, and/or the like. The mirror assembly and/ordisplay may utilize aspects described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,184,190;7,255,451; 7,446,924 and/or 7,338,177, which are all hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties. The thicknesses and materialsof the coatings on the substrates of the reflective element may beselected to provide a desired color or tint to the mirror reflectiveelement, such as a blue colored reflector, such as is known in the artand such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,910,854; 6,420,036 and/or7,274,501, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

Optionally, the display or displays and any associated user inputs maybe associated with various accessories or systems, such as, for example,a tire pressure monitoring system or a passenger air bag status or agarage door opening system or a telematics system or any other accessoryor system of the mirror assembly or of the vehicle or of an accessorymodule or console of the vehicle, such as an accessory module or consoleof the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,289,037; 6,877,888;6,824,281; 6,690,268; 6,672,744; 6,386,742 and 6,124,886, and/or U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005 andpublished Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0050018, whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

While the above description constitutes a plurality of embodiments ofthe present invention, it will be appreciated that the present inventionis susceptible to further modification and change without departing fromthe fair meaning of the accompanying claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method of assembling a vehicular camera,said method comprising: providing a front housing having a lens, animaging element and a circuit board; providing a rear housing; providingat least one first electrical connector at the circuit board; providingat least one second electrical connector at the rear housing, whereinthe at least one second electrical connector is configured toelectrically connect to an electrical connector of a vehicle wireharness when the assembled vehicular camera is mounted at a vehicle;wherein one of the at least one first electrical connector and the atleast one second electrical connector comprises at least one maleconnector and the other of the at least one first electrical connectorand the at least one second electrical connector comprises at least onefemale connector; mating the rear housing with the front housing toencase the imaging element and the circuit board; when mating the rearhousing with the front housing, inserting the at least one maleconnector into the at least one female connector to electricallyconductively connect the at least one first electrical connector and theat least one second electrical connector; wherein the at least onefemale connector flexes to accommodate misalignment of the at least onemale connector and the at least one female connector when the at leastone male connector is inserted into the at least one female connector;wherein mating the rear housing with the front housing comprises movingone of the rear housing and the front housing in a first direction alonga first axis; and wherein the at least one male connector and the atleast one female connector are configured to accommodate misalignment ofthe at least one male connector and the at least one female connectoralong at least one second axis that is transverse to the first axis. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one male connector and theat least one female connector are configured to accommodate misalignmentof the at least one male connector and the at least one female connectoralong two axes that are transverse to each other and to the first axis.3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one female connectorflexes in a second direction transverse to the first axis to accommodatemisalignment of the at least one male connector and the at least onefemale connector when the at least one male connector is inserted intothe at least one female connector.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereinstructure of the at least one female connector has a width that is sizedso that the at least one male connector is insertable therein over arange of positions.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least onefemale connector has biasing structure that biases the at least onefemale connector towards a home position.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein inserting the at least one male connector into the at least onefemale connector comprises inserting the at least one male connectoruntil a stop element at the at least one female connector limitsmovement in the first direction of the at least one male connector orthe at least one female connector.
 7. The method of claim 6, comprising,when mating the rear housing with the front housing, moving the at leastone male connector in the first direction to enter the at least onefemale connector, wherein the stop element at the at least one femaleconnector is positioned to limit movement of the at least one femaleconnector in the first direction during entry of the at least one maleconnector into the at least one male connector.
 8. The method of claim6, wherein the stop element at the at least one female connector is partof a connector housing at the at least one female connector.
 9. Themethod of claim 6, comprising providing a retraction stop element thatlimits movement of the at least one female connector when the at leastone male connector is moved in a direction opposite the first directionrelative to the at least one female connector.
 10. The method of claim9, wherein the retraction stop element is part of a connector housing atthe at least one female connector.
 11. The method of claim 1, comprisingproviding a connector housing at the at least one female connector toform a female connector assembly.
 12. The method of claim 11, whereinthe at least one female connector includes a flexible base portion, andwherein the connector housing comprises a flex-limiting structure thatlimits flexing of the flexible base portion when the at least one maleconnector is inserted into the at least one female connector.
 13. Themethod of claim 1, comprising, when mating the rear housing with thefront housing, mating rear housing alignment structure of the rearhousing with front housing alignment structure of the front housing toalign the rear housing with respect to the front housing.
 14. The methodof claim 1, wherein the at least one first electrical connectorcomprises the at least one female connector and the at least one secondelectrical connector comprises the at least one male connector.
 15. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the at least one first electrical connectorcomprises the at least one male connector and the at least one secondelectrical connector comprises the at least one female connector.
 16. Amethod of assembling a vehicular camera, said method comprising:providing a front housing having a lens, an imaging element and acircuit board; providing a rear housing; providing at least one firstelectrical connector at the circuit board; providing at least one secondelectrical connector at the rear housing, wherein the at least onesecond electrical connector is configured to electrically connect to anelectrical connector of a vehicle wire harness when the assembledvehicular camera is mounted at a vehicle; wherein one of the at leastone first electrical connector and the at least one second electricalconnector comprises at least one male connector and the other of the atleast one first electrical connector and the at least one secondelectrical connector comprises at least one female connector; providinga connector housing at the at least one female connector to form afemale connector assembly; mating the rear housing with the fronthousing to encase the imaging element and the circuit board; when matingthe rear housing with the front housing, inserting the at least one maleconnector into the at least one female connector to electricallyconductively connect the at least one first electrical connector and theat least one second electrical connector; wherein the at least onefemale connector flexes to accommodate misalignment of the at least onemale connector and the at least one female connector when the at leastone male connector is inserted into the at least one female connector;wherein mating the rear housing with the front housing comprises movingone of the rear housing and the front housing in a first direction alonga first axis; wherein the at least one male connector and the at leastone female connector are configured to accommodate misalignment of theat least one male connector and the at least one female connector alongat least one second axis that is transverse to the first axis; whereinthe at least one female connector includes a flexible base portion that,when inserting the at least one male connector into the at least onefemale connector, flexes in a second direction transverse to the firstaxis to accommodate misalignment of the at least one male connector andthe at least one female connector; wherein the connector housingcomprises a flex-limiting structure that limits flexing of the flexiblebase portion when the at least one male connector is inserted into theat least one female connector; and wherein the at least one femaleconnector has biasing structure that biases the flexible base portiontowards a home position.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the atleast one male connector and the at least one female connector areconfigured to accommodate misalignment of the at least one maleconnector and the at least one female connector along two axes that aretransverse to each other and to the first axis.
 18. The method of claim16, wherein the at least one first electrical connector comprises the atleast one female connector and the at least one second electricalconnector comprises the at least one male connector.
 19. The method ofclaim 16, wherein the at least one first electrical connector comprisesthe at least one male connector and the at least one second electricalconnector comprises the at least one female connector.
 20. A method ofassembling a vehicular camera, said method comprising: providing a fronthousing having a lens, an imaging element and a circuit board; providinga rear housing; providing at least one first electrical connector at thecircuit board; providing at least one second electrical connector at therear housing, wherein the at least one second electrical connector isconfigured to electrically connect to an electrical connector of avehicle wire harness when the assembled vehicular camera is mounted at avehicle; wherein one of the at least one first electrical connector andthe at least one second electrical connector comprises at least one maleconnector and the other of the at least one first electrical connectorand the at least one second electrical connector comprises at least onefemale connector; mating the rear housing with the front housing toencase the imaging element and the circuit board; when mating the rearhousing with the front housing, inserting the at least one maleconnector into the at least one female connector to electricallyconductively connect the at least one first electrical connector and theat least one second electrical connector; wherein the at least onefemale connector flexes to accommodate misalignment of the at least onemale connector and the at least one female connector when the at leastone male connector is inserted into the at least one female connector;wherein mating the rear housing with the front housing comprises movingone of the rear housing and the front housing in a first direction alonga first axis; when mating the rear housing with the front housing,mating rear housing alignment structure of the rear housing with fronthousing alignment structure of the front housing to align the rearhousing with respect to the front housing; wherein the at least one maleconnector and the at least one female connector are configured toaccommodate misalignment of the at least one male connector and the atleast one female connector along at least one second axis that istransverse to the first axis; wherein inserting the at least one maleconnector into the at least one female connector comprises inserting theat least one male connector until a stop element at the at least onefemale connector limits movement in the first direction of the at leastone male connector or the at least one female connector; and wherein thestop element at the at least one female connector is part of a connectorhousing at the at least one female connector.
 21. The method of claim20, comprising providing a retraction stop element that limits movementof the at least one female connector when the at least one maleconnector is moved in a direction opposite the first direction relativeto the at least one female connector.
 22. The method of claim 21,wherein the retraction stop element is part of the connector housing atthe at least one female connector.
 23. The method of claim 20, whereinthe at least one first electrical connector comprises the at least onefemale connector and the at least one second electrical connectorcomprises the at least one male connector.
 24. The method of claim 20,wherein the at least one first electrical connector comprises the atleast one male connector and the at least one second electricalconnector comprises the at least one female connector.